Fritz’s Watercress salad January 28, 2013

A confession: the watercress used in this salad would have probably been considered below par by Fritz and Nero Wolfe (“Poison a la Carte, part of the Three at Wolfe’s Door trilogy). It was generally fine, but had parts which were starting to turn yellow, a clear sign that it had been picked a few days before I used it. I know that Fritz would have been aghast at the quality (it must be perfect for Wolfe, of course), and Wolfe would have been appalled.

Nevertheless I decided that I’d continue making an imperfect watercress salad, with the thought that I’d at least get the general sense of the salad. This was actually a very easy salad to put together, with only a handful of ingredients. I started by chopping up avocados and walnuts, and mixing them together in a bowl with some salt and lemon juice.

Then it was simply a matter of arranging the watercress and adding the walnut and avocado mixture. I also added a tomato, to add some more colour.

While it was very simple, it was a very nice salad. The watercress was slightly spicy, and the avocado / walnut mix was very tasty and a great combination. We had this as a side salad with some pumpkin and cauliflower soup, and it was a very nice accompaniment.

Perhaps I missed out on the subtle nuances of perfect (as defined by Nero Wolfe) watercress, but I think I still managed to get along quite nicely.